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When does it pay off to slow …down… the reader, or speed them up?

    I’m fascinated by comic format and page design.  Like every newbie, I’m always gawking at the work of other online comics and asking myself why the artist chose a particular page design, and if there was a better format for telling their story.  I am not an expert cartoonist; however I am an expert cartoon fan and this is what I’m seeing.

Webcomics in traditional formats

 The first web comics were often done by cartoonists who were, or hoped to be, syndicated for sale to newspapers and magazines.  Their chosen framework was four equal sized frames in a row; the fourth frame was the concluding gag or thought.  The frames were small, print color was held to a minimum to save money, so the traditional pros are the masters of amazingly concise line and thought.  I asked Bill Holbrook, artist/ writer of one of the web’s longest running (and very excellent) serial comics, Kevin & Kell, why he continued to use the Syndicate format after a decade on the web. His answer was that it was a habit that he saw no reason to change.  Ironically, his Saturday strip is a free flowing use of a 6” x 10” space, which is what would be allotted by newspapers for a Sunday comic section.

It’s interesting to go through the archives of one of these great four-frame strips, Moth and Ethan by Andrew Chandler for example, and after ten minutes examine your viewing habits.  You might realize that the format is enjoyably slowing… you… down. There’s going to be a thought or joke in frame four and you need to pay attention to the preceding three frames so you can appreciate the fourth.

Jump to another traditional format, the 8.5 x 11 comic page.  Color and playing with the frame size is expected, and some artistic rule breaking (like breaking out of the borders) is admired if it doesn’t interfere with the story.  There is a slight pause while the reader flips a page, so there doesn’t have to be a conclusion at the bottom, but an action or thought must be concluded before you go to the next page.  An entire page allows the artist to make ‘Splash’ pages with a big visual impact, and they  really don’t want the reader to go rushing on to the next page.  By instinct or training, artists know how to use color, detail and design elements such as spirals to hold the eye at a certain point of the page…and slow…the reader…down.

Nontraditional formats are starting to emerge

The web comic is still evolving as a ‘career’ but already I’m seeing strips that, because of their format could never see the light of a printer.  Deep rich colors are flung around the screen like they were free, and the frame and page dimensions can sometimes run vertically off the screen, or ‘scroll down’.   An image that makes the reader scroll down to see the whole image loses its visual “punch” because the viewer must remember one part of the image as they look at the rest of it.  But if the upper part of an image hooks a reader and pulls them down, a long scroll down image can become a journey.

For example, as the reader scrolls down, they can figuratively fall down through the story. A stunning example of this is Daniel Lieske’s  Wormworld  Saga.  The reader sails down exotic rivers, hikes down waterfalls, or falls down through multilayered forests as they scroll down the strip.   Daniel has devoted a huge amount of time producing gorgeous art, so he really doesn’t want the reader racing to the bottom of the scroll.  He uses a serpentine flow to his word balloons and pictures, with splashes of color and darkness to briefly hold the reader’s eye, then let it slide slowly down the scroll.

  I guess I’m conditioned by comic books to think that epic combat has to be shown in a comic book format, because they’re the best format for delivering a “visual splash” battle scene.  Then I read the latest Rust Angel#6 by Matt Tirre, and had my bias rocked by the rollercoaster experience of scrolling down through a multiple frame action scene.  His style of storytelling is so smooth that the reader can grab the scroll bar, pull it down through a multiple frame action scene, and watch their own movie.    Even in frames where the lines are horizontal, the action-sequence is vertical, so as you scroll down through a fight scene the effect is … cinematic.  The smooth slide is aided by  Scribd, Matt’s server of choice, which loads quickly and scrolls smoothly, and an art style which propels the eye from one scene to the next as the action picks up.  Matt displays a keen eye for dynamic figures, and dizzying points of view reminiscent of a Myazaki movie, so the vertical scroll really suits this story well.

How do you let the reader down at the end of a visual roller-coaster?  Rust Angel #6 ends with a great closing scene.  The picture contains a lot of contrast light to dark and beautiful detail in his main character, which catches and holds the reader’s eye.  The main character gazes at a sunset as she contemplates an uncertain future loaded with daunting possibilities. Matt’s given his reader’s a wild ride but he’s not going to let them get away without a reflective pause at the end.

    I’ve yet to see a comic that scrolls horizontally, or animates as you pass your mouse across it, or slowly changes color as you view it. I figure that’s coming next week.